Museum Extending Lights, Winterfest Celebrations

December 29, 1998|By LARRY SMITH; Courant Staff Writer

EAST WINDSOR — The Connecticut Trolley Museum is extending its annual Winterfest and Northern Lights Celebration through Saturday.

Higher than expected attendance is the reason museum officials decided to add three nights to the festival, said museum President Frank Gullen. The festival was originally scheduled to be open only through Wednesday.

``We were happy to see the big crowds in the weeks before Christmas, and we wanted to make sure everybody had a chance to see the lights in a less crowded setting after the holidays,'' Gullen said.

The festival features a 3-mile round-trip trolley ride over a line decorated with more than 6,000 colored lights. Rides will be given in several of the museum's historic cars, including heated, enclosed cars and the ``electric sleigh,'' an open-topped touring car from Canada.

In addition, this year the museum features a display of holiday-themed model railroad layouts which were formerly on display at Winter Wonderland in the G. Fox building in Hartford. However, because of scheduling conflicts, the model displays will not be available for the extended nights and will close on Wednesday.

A reduced admission for the trolley ride will be offered beginning Thursday.

Winterfest will now operate nightly, weather permitting, through Saturday. Rides will depart every few minutes from 6 to 9 p.m. Through Wednesday, admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $5 for children 5-12. Beginning Thursday, when only the train ride is available, reduced rates will be $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $3 for children 5-12. Children under 5 are admitted free with a paying adult.

After Saturday, the museum will be closed for the winter and will reopen the first weekend in April.